Citizen Scientists Help Count Glass Eels In The Hudson Valley

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Spring has sprung, and so students and teachers all along the Hudson River are donning waders to check on the size and health of the region's baby eel population.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is part of an ongoing multi-state research project on American eels, which have one of the most unusual life cycles of any fish. They are hatched in the Sargasso Sea north of Puerto Rico, and every spring arrive in estuaries like the Hudson River and its tributaries as translucent, 2-inch-long wrigglers called "glass eels." Eels will live in freshwater rivers and streams and for up to 30 years before returning to the sea to spawn.

Now in its 14th year, the project was initiated by the Hudson River Estuary Program and Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve to gather data for management plans for eel conservation. Since the project began, volunteers have caught, counted, and released more than 1 million juvenile eels into upstream habitat.

Monitors and students check nets specifically designed to catch these smallest eels during this life stage. They count and release the glass eels back into the water and record environmental data on temperature and tides. Most are released above dams, waterfalls, and other barriers so that they have better access to habitat.

Eel collection takes place at most sites daily from early April through mid-May.

This spring, students, teachers, local residents, and DEC staff and partner organizations will monitor glass eels at 10 sites on the Hudson River from New York Harbor to the Capital Region, following strict safety protocols to prevent the community spread of the coronavirus.

Sample sites include:

• Saw Mill River and the Center for the Urban River at Beczak in Yonkers
• Furnace Brook in Cortlandt
• Minisceongo Creek in West Haverstraw
• Sparkill in Piermont
• Indian Brook at Constitution Marsh in Cold Spring
• Quassaick Creek in Newburgh
• Hunters Brook in Wappingers Falls
• Fall Kill in Poughkeepsie
• Crum Elbow Creek in Hyde Park
• Enderkill in Staatsburg
• Black Creek in Esopus
• Saw Kill in Annandale-on-Hudson

All sampling is conducted outdoors, with masks and social distancing required. School and youth groups are limited to a maximum of four, along with two adult supervisors.

The pandemic has cut down on the number of schools participating. 2021 schools participating in the eel project:

• Sarah Lawrence College
• Ossining High School
• Wappingers Junior High School
• Roy C. Ketcham High School
• John Jay High School
• Poughkeepsie High School
• Arlington High School
• Marist College
• Dutchess Community College
• New Paltz High School
• Highland Middle School
• SUNY New Paltz
• Bard College

In addition, virtual classroom visits by DEC educators will help bring the project alive to thousands more.